Tips and Tricks

I’ve been thinking about a page like this for a while, so I figured I’d start one. This is intended to be a collection of things related to food.
Please feel free to add your own tips as well.

Meat:

• Don’t grill/cook meat that’s too cold. Let it come to room temperature (or let sit out of the fridge for an hour or so). If you cook cold meat, it will seize-up and be tough and not so juicy.
• Season well, all over. Don’t skimp on the seasonings.
• Don’t use wine with lamb. Trust me. At best, you’ll have a tough piece of meat; at worse, it will be bitter.
• Remove fat from the meat when it’s cold. It comes away a lot easier.
• Cut meat when it’s cold, if possible. It’s a lot easier.
• Use kitchen shears to cut up chicken, especially if it’s not cold. The scissors make it easier to cut.

Microwaving:

• Whatever you want to heat up (unless it’s water), add a little bit of water. Pastas, rices, meats, ect., all benefit from a few drops of water so the food doesn’t dry out in the heating process.

Fruits/Veggies

• Don’t store tomatoes in the fridge. It kills the flavor. At least in tomatoes that have ripened on the vine and have flavor.
• Onion: When working with onion, don’t use hot water to wash it. Hot/warm water makes it bitter. Use cold water. Cold water will reduce the “sting”.
• Onion: Run cold water really close to where you are chopping onions. It will reduce, if not eliminate completely, the “crying”. I just set a cutting board in the sink (on the ledge) or right next to the since and run cold water while I’m chopping onions. Works every time.